Can You Install Retail Windows 7 and use OEM serial #

I explained it in post 31. The key which would be onboard preinstalled Win7 which came on a Toshiba laptop is not the same as the key on the COA sticker and can't be used to activate a Clean Reinstall. It is an OEM-SLP key used to mass activate Win7 offline at factory.

gregrocker said:

I explained it in post 31. The key which would be onboard preinstalled Win7 which came on a Toshiba laptop is not the same as the key on the COA sticker and can't be used to activate a Clean Reinstall. It is an OEM-SLP key used to mass activate Win7 offline at factory.

Greg:

Are there no tools that will reveal the COA sticker Product Key?

Or do tools such as Magic Jelly Bean, Speccy, etc reveal ONLY the OEM-SLP key??

Or will these tools reveal the COA sticker Product Key ONLY if that key has in fact been used to activate the existing installation---such as when someone buys an OEM laptop and later does a clean install from a legit ISO and activates with the COA sticker key?

I've never used the tools, but it would be sensible that the tools can't reveal a key that wasn't used for the existing install.

Yes, if COA sticker Product key has already been used for Clean Reinstall then it should be detected by a key finder program and work for reinstall. But if it's still the preinstalled Win7 installation, then it has a SLP key which itself can't be used to reinstall at all.

The factory SLP key must have it's entire onboard file backed up to reinstall using methods we are not allowed to support here.

The options then become to use whatever remains of the COA sticker to see if enough is there for MS Phone Activation to issue a new key to activate a Clean Reinstall. There are numerous reports they will do this if they can get enough off the sticker to verify it. I think they also ask for the Product ID which is a tracking code.

Or you can order the Recovery disks which self-activate.

Aye aye.

Thanks for the clarification.

The key read from factory preinstalled Windows is the SLP key which is not the same as on the COA sticker and cannot be used to Clean Reinstall Win7 without backing up the entire SLP file. We only support using the COA sticker key as given in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 .

For any factory or retail OEM where the mobo is changed to another model than the exact same mobo, it will almost always fail activation since the mobo is the one hardware device which cannot be changed on OEM. You could replace the key with Builder's OEM since you have literally rebuilt it for these purposes.

very good post.I have a desktop PC with Dual core 2.7ghz processor with 1 GB ram.which edition of windows 7 work first with no problem.